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The Orioles are nearing a long-term contract extension with center fielder Adam Jones, Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports report (all Twitter links). Jones completed his physical yesterday and the sides are in the process of completing the final details of the contract. Nez Balelo of CAA Sports represents Jones.

The Orioles are making a commitment "well north" of Miguel Tejada's six-year, $72MM contract and Nick Markakis' six-year, $66MM extension, Rosenthal and Morosi report. This means Jones' new deal will be the largest contract in Orioles history.

FOX Sports is reporting that the Orioles are close to signing Adam Jones to a long-term extension, so there was a reason for those rumblings around town yesterday.

Duquette told me yesterday that nothing was "imminent," which I also heard from two other people in the organization, but they're clearly headed toward an announcement. If it doesn't happen today, perhaps we'll hear something before the weekend is done.

Jones is earning $6.15 million. He's going to become the high-paid Oriole in franchise history.

There's been a perception here that Jones wanted to test free agency and relocate to the West Coast, but two factors come into play. The money is obviously right, and Jones believes the Orioles can win in his lifetime.

Their fast start in 2012 was crucial to getting a deal completed. And they really are going for it now, rather than looking to trade him for pieces that could help them contend much further down the road.

Duquette said he didn't want to negotiate during the season, but that's clearly been taking place. And Jones is going to be an Oriole for a long time.

If they're signing Jones to an extension, they need to start working on a deal with Wieters the day after they finish this one. They've committed to winning within the timeframe of the Jones deal and having Wieters walk at the same time Bundy and Machado are finding their feet in the majors almost makes this Jones extension pointless.

Sorry, I had just woken up thus the typo. I agree with the sentiment and looking at how DD has been running this front office thus far I think that Wieters will be the next person we go after. Many of the pitchers are just as far, if not further, from free agency than Wieters and we can take the time to work with Boras to come up with a reasonably fair contract.

I just hope Duquette's plans aren't to compete immediately by sacrificing the future. He won't trade Bundy or Machado, so I'm not worried about that, but I don't want him to start trading the second tier prospects like Schoop, Bridwell, or Lino to add non-superstar players or one-year guys to compete now. I'd really prefer if he never traded prospects (or at least follow the Rays plan of how they trade), but if he does, wait until we're legitimately one or two pieces away from being a WS contender.

10:42am: The deal will cover six years and fall in the $85MM range, Rosenthal and Morosi report (on Twitter). This means the deal will buy out Jones' final arbitration year (presumably for $9-10MM) and five free agent seasons at approximately $15MM per year.

Zach wrote:...we can take the time to work with Boras to come up with a reasonably fair contract.

I am not as sanguine about that as you.

When did Boras ever allow one of his premium clients sign a "reasonably fair" contract in their first bite at free agency?

I suspect both DD and Buck have explained to ownership the desirability of signing him, and ownership has shown a willingness to spend big money (the original Wieters contract, negotiated largely by PA himself), but I also suspect Boras is going to want to see many sh*tp*ts full of bullion stretching far into the horizon to get Wieters signed. He's also a catcher, and their time frame of high productivity is usually less that of other players.

CSPitt17130 wrote:I just hope Duquette's plans aren't to compete immediately by sacrificing the future. He won't trade Bundy or Machado, so I'm not worried about that, but I don't want him to start trading the second tier prospects like Schoop, Bridwell, or Lino to add non-superstar players or one-year guys to compete now.

A lot of people would disagree with you that Schoop is a "second tier prospect". There are rumors that some in the organization think he has more upside than Machado. He's off to a slow start at Bowie, but has been picking it up lately. He also had an injury problem during the spring, the jump to AA is supposed to be the hardest in the minors, and he is still young.

Ampontan wrote:A lot of people would disagree with you that Schoop is a "second tier prospect". There are rumors that some in the organization think he has more upside than Machado. He's off to a slow start at Bowie, but has been picking it up lately. He also had an injury problem during the spring, the jump to AA is supposed to be the hardest in the minors, and he is still young.

Schoop is not in the same class of prospect as Bundy and Machado. That's all I meant by second tier. He's not an elite, blue-chip prospect. He's still a very good prospect, thus why I wouldn't want him to be traded. I don't think you'd be able to find anyone outside of the organization going on record saying that Schoop has more upside than Machado though.

Hopefully he keeps it up. If he plays like he did last year it will be an alright deal, if he regresses he will be the new Markakis and Angelos may never spend big money again, if he keeps improving the O's will look like geniuses in two years.

Dave Cameron, a Mariners fan who vehemently argued against trading Jones for Bedard (even straight-up), provides some thoughts on the deal and the likelihood that Jones improves his walk rate, the one thing every naysayer seems to point out.

If the deal is indeed 6 years and $85, that seems perfectly reasonable to me. If Jones becomes more of the player he was last year, the O's should at least break even in value. If continues to play like this the O's will definitely come out on top in terms of value. It's hard for this to go wrong for the O's unless Jones suffers an injury.

Jordan wrote:If the deal is indeed 6 years and $85, that seems perfectly reasonable to me. If Jones becomes more of the player he was last year, the O's should at least break even in value. If continues to play like this the O's will definitely come out on top in terms of value. It's hard for this to go wrong for the O's unless Jones suffers an injury.

I think the most comparable contract would be Matt Kemp's 8 year $160 million extension with the Dodgers. Which makes me agree with you that this was a good deal for the O's. Shorter contract and less annual value (which is reasonable considering Kemp just came off a 8.7 WAR season). Great news overall!